The Delta Grassroots Caucus (DGC) is a broad coalition of grassroots leaders in the eight-state Delta region. DGC is also a founding partner of the Economic Equality Caucus,which advocates for economic equality across the USA.

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Delta Grassroots Caucus Events

Credit Michael Hibblen/ KUAR News, Arkansas Public Radio; Former President Bill Clinton speaking to the Delta Grassroots Caucus on May 2, 2013, at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Little Rock

Please RSVP for the annual Delta conference at the Clinton Presidential Center, April 1-2, 2010. Senator Blanche Lincoln will be the luncheon speaker at the Clinton Library on Friday, April 2, Congressman Mike Ross will speak at the opening on Thursday evening at the Clinton School of Public Service. President Bill Clinton and Governor Mike Beebe have spoken the last several years and we have invited them again this year.

We will have grassroots leaders from across the eight-state region on the agenda.

The opening session is Thursday, April 1 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Clinton School of Public Service and Friday, April 2, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Great Hall of the Clinton Library.

EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS MARCH 16, ALTHOUGH THE SPACE IS ALREADY FILLING UP. The space is rapidly filling up and we have 90 RSVPS at present. We are getting more registrations every day now and would prefer to keep the total down to 125. Most of the places are filled by invitation only, because we have more people who want to attend than we have space for. But we also want to include new participants, so we would consider a limited number of new applications.

We have also invited Congressman John Boozman (AR), who has not spoken to our conferences previously.

The main themes will be job creation and economic recovery from the recession, transportation and infrastructure, and health care legislation’s impact on improving inadequate health care in the eight-state Greater Delta region from southern Illinois to New Orleans.

REGISTRATION–Please RSVP if you want to be assured of a space. You register for the April 1-2, 2010 conference by mailing in the $85 early registration fee. Please make out the check to “Delta Grassroots Caucus,” with a note, “For April, 2010 conference,” and mail to:

Delta Grassroots Caucus

(Attention: Lee Powell)

311 Schoolwood Lane

Little Rock, Arkansas 72207

Please note that the early registration period ends on March 16, 2009, after which the registration is $100.

Please note that for groups for 10 or more, the early registration fee group discount is $60 each.

GROUP HOTEL: We have a good group hotel rate of $78 at the Comfort Inn & Suites at the Clinton Library in Little Rock. To get that rate, just call the hotel at 501-687-7700 by March 16, 2010 for the night of April 1. (There are also several suites for $88.) for the night of April 1, 2010. You will only need the one hotel night, since you can store your luggage in the morning of the main session on April 2 and come back and pick them up that afternoon when the conference ends.

We are lining up the speakers and panels now. Confirmed speakers thus far include Sen. Lincoln and Rep. Ross, and Dean Skip Rutherford of the Clinton School of Public Service will be our host for the opening service. Dean Rutherford always does a great job and the Clinton School and Clinton Foundation are actively involved in promoting progress in the Delta. President Clinton and Governor Mike Beebe have spoken the last several years and we are inviting them again.

We appreciate participation from all areas of the region, but would like to especially recognize west Tennessee and southeast Arkansas for being unusually dynamic and active for our organization at this time.

Other confirmed speakers include:

Mayor Barrett Harrison of Blytheville, Arkansas, board member of the Delta Caucus who has a great record of economic development for northeast Arkansas;

Mike Marshall, long-time Delta regional economic development advocate, former Mayor of Sikeston, Missouri, served for 14 years on the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority, 31 years of experience as a banker including president of First State Bank in Sikeston;

Charita Johnson Burgess, Delta Caucus west Tennessee co-coordinator and community development expert, Shiloh Distribution Center in western Tennessee;

Johnnie Bolin, executive director of the Arkansas Good Roads Transportation Council, who is one of the most knowledgeable experts about transportation issues in the region;

Mayor Brad Cole of Carbondale, Illinois, a progressive Republican leader from the southern Illinois Delta and one of our stalwart regional partners;

Buddy Spillers, Louisiana co-coordinator of the Delta Caucus along with Dr. Obadiah Simmons of Grambling State University; Mr. Spillers is head of the Macon Ridge Community Development Corp. in northeast Louisiana;

Tim Smith, President and CEO of the Lousiiana Housing and Community Development Corporation, based in New Orleans;

The national Housing Assistance Council in Washington, DC will have a representative to deal with housing issues in the Delta;

Josh Tubbs of the Marshall County Economic Development office in western Kentucky; Mr. Tubbs is involved in a variety of economic development activities, including progress on the Interstate 69 Corridor;

The Foundation for the Mid-South, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta/HOPE Community Credit Union, Mid-Delta LISC, and Heifer International have participated in previous years and have been invited again this year, along with a number of other invited speakers.

We look forward to seeing you in Little Rock on April 1-2, 2010 to advocate for the Greater Delta Region. Thanks very much–Lee Powell, MDGC (202) 360-6347